ICVCM Welcomes Biden Administration High-Integrity Carbon Credit Principles

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market welcomed the Biden-Harris Administration's announcement of principles to advance high-integrity voluntary carbon markets, noting that the US government's supply-side principles align with the Core Carbon Principles. The US joins the UK, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association in showing alignment with the CCPs.

The US government document acknowledged in footnote 5 that its supply-side principles draw from existing best practice including the work of the ICVCM. Chair Annette Nazareth welcomed the announcement, noting that high-integrity carbon credits can mobilise private finance at scale for projects to reduce and remove billions of tonnes of emissions that would not otherwise be viable. She also noted that buying high-integrity credits allows companies to take responsibility for emissions they cannot yet cut, with evidence suggesting this spurs further efforts to decarbonise operations and supply chains.

Five major carbon-crediting programmes — ACR, ART, Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, and VCS operated by Verra — are now eligible to use the CCP label on new and existing credits under CCP-approved methodologies. The ICVCM indicated it expected to announce its first approved methodologies shortly following the US government announcement. CCP-labelled credits require projects to disclose their impact on emissions, society, and the environment, making third-party monitoring more accessible.

The ICVCM stated that the CCP label will unlock private sector finance for projects to reduce and remove billions of tonnes of emissions, channel climate finance to the Global South to support national climate goals, and advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals by requiring all new projects to make positive sustainable development contributions and adopt robust protections for people and the environment. The US government alignment adds to a growing international consensus around the Core Carbon Principles as a global integrity benchmark.

Key figure — Five governments and regulators aligned with Core Carbon Principles